A Rugby soldier is back home safe and well after more than two months fighting in Iraq.

Guardsman Stephen Slater, of Hillside, returned back to his family on Monday night. Stephen, 20, who is the son of Chief Inspector Mike Slater, of Rugby police, and his wife Diane, was stationed in Basra throughout the Iraq conflict, where he witnessed some of the war?s most ferocious fighting.

Conditions in base camp were primitive and Stephen, who had never been in action before, had to live without running water and electricity and often had to sleep in a self-dug trench.

At one point his family became frantic with worry when they had not had news of him for more than a week - but their fears were allayed after they spotted a picture in a national paper of Stephen arresting an Iraqi suspect.

Stephen counts the occasion when a shell exploded just feet away from where he was standing as one of his most frightening to date.

?We were on guard in Basra when we came across a T55 (Iraqi tank),? he said. ?It fired at us and the shell exploded less than 10 metres from my feet.

?It did shake me up - it made me realise what could happen.?

The former Ashlawn School pupil said morale was lifted by the reaction of the Iraqi people, who were generally welcoming to the soldiers.

?Sometimes the kids could be a bit annoying, because they kept following you around and wouldn?t leave you alone, but it was better than them being hostile,? he said.

Stephen, whose sister is local beauty queen Jayne-Louise Slater, said he was planning to relax on a month-long leave before heading back to Germany for training.

?It really is good to be back home to my family and my own bed,? he said.

He began his military career as a reservist with the 89 (Warwickshire) Signal Squadron in Edward Street, Rugby.